[ASEAN-Korea Summit]ASEAN Visitors…

ASEAN Visitors Sample World-first: Mobile Internet TV

Prominent visitors to the ASEAN-Korea Summit in Jeju Island sampled a technological world-first: A pilot test of Internet TV playing on mobile broadband.

The Korea Communications Commission has been offering demonstrations of the world’s first mobile Internet-protocol television service based on WiBro, South Korea’s wireless broadband network, at the summit from May 30 to June 2. The KCC is Korea’s broadcasting and telecommunications regulator.

At present, those countries that have commercialized IPTV provide the service only in the wired Inter-net environment. The KCC set up a WiBro network centered on the International Convention Center in Seogwipo for four days of demons-trations. The regulator also prepar-ed 50 ultra-mobile PCs, or UMPCs, capable of using the service, and gave three to each of the delegations attending the summit. The rem-ainder were displayed on the third floor of the convention center for participants to try out. Also on exhibit were 10 ‘smart phones’ that used the WiBro network for phone calls.

The KCC provided 10 different ASEAN TV channels on mobile IPTV, enabling participants to watch live broadcasts from their own countries. Other TV channels ran programs on tourism, transport and the history of Jeju, while Video On Demand (VoD) channels offered movies and TV dramas. Conference information, including schedules, venues, themes and participant profiles were also provided, as was real-time broad-casting of the conference and the option to view previous meetings through VoD.

The trial run of the WiBro-based IPTV was made possible by several Korean companies. KT was in charge of the WiBro network, while Samsung Electronics provided mobile devices, including UMPCs. Transmission of the basic content was provided by Korea Cable TV Jeju Broadcasting, and interactive digital TV software was provided by Alticast, a small software maker in Korea.

The KCC established a 225 square-meter exhibition booth on the third floor of the International Conference Center, Jeju, to allow the maximum number of partici-pants to experience mobile IPTV, in hopes that this trial service would promote the excellence of the home-grown WiBro technology. During the OECD Ministerial Meeting in Seoul in June 2008, Korea demonstrated VoIP service using WiBro; responses were positive.

“We gave ASEAN leaders the opportunity to experience mobile IPTV to help domestic telecom companies make inroads into overseas markets in the future,” said Woo Young-gyu, the deputy director of KCC’s convergence policy division. “By doing this, Korea was able to showcase our capability to successfully host international conferences, and show that eco-friendly conferences without paper handouts are possible.”

By Kim Yong-seok nex@donga.com